Friday, November 14, 2014

Despite the frequency with which even very high quality "City"-esqe Modulars are published to Ideas, the Natural History Museum is the first to be applicable for review, which is quite an accomplishment indeed.

To be sure, we have had several licensed ones and, of course, the Western Themed Modulars, but this is the first Modular to reach 10,000 through the modular's specific subject matter.

The Natural History Museum will be joining the following projects in the review that starts on January 5th, 2015:

Friday, November 7, 2014

Which Figure Type would you like to see for the Little Prince? Check all that apply.

Which Figure Style would you like to see for the Little Prince? Check all that apply.

Please Note!
No specific detail of the presented figures are final. The figures depicted are intended to give a good impression for what the "type" and "style" options are referencing to aid you in your selections.

Alatariel and I (GlenBricker) are not only deeply honored that LEGO has made this decision, but also excited and proud to be some small part of a show that we both love.

This proposal has been an amazing ride right from the moment it was posted to Ideas, and with reaching 10,000 in less than a month, was once of the fastest projects to reach that goal.

We give the deepest thanks to all those who voted for the project as well as shared it with their friends, families, and readers! Without your support this, quite literally, would not be possible.

This announcement of production will lead to other milestones such as the reveal of the official set, publication of release date, and, of course, the actual release of the set. If you would like to stay on top of these details, please consider following us on twitter or our blogs:

Congrats to the LEGO Birds project! We hope to see some Doctor Who sets make the next review and our deepest sympathies go out to those projects that were not picked up. We know that you have poured your heart and soul into your Ideas Campaigns and that getting to the review, without reaching production is incredibly disheartening. For those wishing to rework their concept and post again, we wish you the best of luck.

For the Doctor Who fans out there, to showcase how much we all love Doctor Who, please consider also voting for the 10th Doctor's Tardis project. The more votes in ANY Doctor Who project there are, the more likely it is that at least one project will get produced.

Thank you once again!

Alatariel & GlenBricker

For those still reading, who have enjoyed our work, please excuse this moment of crass promotion of our other projects.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Pick of the Week

An attractive model that is well scaled to the target audience and does not discourage people unfamiliar with the IP

The quality of the model image is first rate, showing its features clearly with great lighting, angle, and focus

The dialog on the main image makes the subject matter clear

The additional graphic accentuate the draw to the project without detracting from the subject

And as far as the subject:

Vehicles and Mech appeal to LEGO and its fans and this is combination of both.

Civilization has inroads with both old school gamer and new audiences

The project release is well timed with the release of the game

This is one of those project that stands firmly at the kind of production values and presentation that one should aim for when creating a project on Ideas.

A few points that I would add though:

This project did well to come out just after the game, but ideally when your project is based on anything with a date involved, you want to strive to get it out in advance to take full advantage of the hype. I do assume however that in this case, AndrewClark2 maybe have been contractually obligated to postpone the release until after the game went public. This advice is really directed to the public at large.

There are unavoidable similarities between this build and Emmet's construction mecha from the LEGO Movie. This could negatively impact LEGO's decision to produce as to not confuse branding. There is nothing to be done about this though. If you have an idea, and it shares some elements with something LEGO is already doing, consider what you can change to make it more novel and what you want to keep to get buy-in, but if you are basing it on a specific subject (such as a Civilization Worker Mech in this case), all you can do is stay true to the subject and hope for the best.

Some will consider this really pedantic but personally, I would have kept the content about the gift to FIRAXIS, and the related image, for an update to the project. I perceive that content as diluting the message and connection to the core demographic of supporters rather than building it up.

Normally I would not bother to mention this, especially relative to how tight the project is, but as I think this is otherwise an expertly well orchestrated project, worthy of emulation, I feel obligated to note that as something I usually try to avoid.

I am not saying there is no place for these types of stories. Placed in the updates, this content provides interesting details to people who are "opting in" to see more.

Honorable Mentions

I do tend to gravitate more towards modulars with a bit more complexity and variation in the facade. Regardless of how accurate it is, a brick building is a brick building...

One of the things I love about this project though is how it has this novel concept of two different timelines, a historic one and a modern day. It is a nice touch that creatively helps the project stand out.

I would not have "Honorably Noted" this project if I had not seen the actual details that are hidden inside the build. This project has a secret that you can only really grok by looking at the project. Yes it has a clever "sticker" indicating "circuits inside" but that didn't really make sense to me.

Seriously though, check out the project directly. It has some really excellent content. This project is just waiting for some geeky blogs to find it.

This could easily have been the project of the week. The design speaks well to the subject AND to the scale. It also executes the subject without overdoing it. Of course, in the long run, it will be a hard sell to get a "bad guy" vehicle from a single movie produced.